Integration & Physician Issues

Hospitals employed 49.3 percent of physicians by January 2021, up 5 percent from January 2019, according to an updated study from the nonprofit Physicians Advocacy Institute and Avalere.

DCH Health System in Tuscaloosa, Ala., finalized hospitalist agreements with two physician staffing firms June 22 after a contentious search, according to The Tuscaloosa News.

The California Medical Association is lobbying against legislation that would increase physician licensing fees and give the state medical board more power to investigate complaints, Kaiser Health News reported June 28.

A physician at Phoenix Children's Hospital has been let go, a move following several antisemitic statements made on social media. 

The pandemic has exposed a long-standing mental health crisis among U.S. healthcare workers.

Many physicians face high pressure and trauma while working, yet structural barriers — often enforced by medical boards and hospital systems — can discourage them from accessing potentially life-saving care, reports Vox.

No physician relishes time spent typing up postoperative reports. Using voice recognition technology to dictate reports in the operating room presents a breakthrough that can save time, improve accuracy and ease surgeons' administrative burden.

Physicians spend significant time performing nonpatient-facing tasks like documentation, that are necessary but ultimately take time away from one-to-one patient care.

Palomar Health physicians are pushing back against a switch in contracted healthcare workers proposed by the Escondido, Calif.-based health system over concerns about safety and staffing, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Steven Weiss, MD, a physician at Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic has been fired after self-publishing a book about working through the pandemic and identifying himself as a Mayo employee, according to a June 19 report by the Leader-Telegram.